Costa Rica

The Greenest Country in the World?

If you are curious of seeing an active volcano, a puma, or galoping on a horse in the rainforest, then a trip to Costa Rica will make you happy! This country is considered an oasis of peace amid unstable Central America and one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

The name Costa Rica means “Rich Coast” in Spanish. It got his name from the abundance of gold artefacts found by the Spaniards in the 16th century, although not as abundant as in Peru or Mexico. Today, you feel indeed that this country is rich, rather because of its natural patrimony and relatively good level of living of its inhabitants.

Costa Rica boasts itself of being the greenest country in the world, dedicating its efforts to protect nature. Indeed, Costa Rica abolished its army permanently in 1948, and focuses its economy on developing foreign investments, sustaining its welfare system and protecting its national parks that occupy nearly half of its territory. Education level is high and part of it is done in English, so many people are bilingual Spanish-English. This makes the country an attractive investing location. Many companies, such as HP, installed their customer hotline in San Jose, the capital city. Intel and its IT cluster is also present in Costa Rica.

The education system promote the protection of the environment. Everywhere you can see slabs reminding about respecting nature. There is actually two faces on the medail. On one hand, the country looks like a giant open-air zoo, with virgin rain forests and crystal-clear waterfalls. Costa Rica also implemented drastic ecological laws. The government announced its intentions to become 100 % carbon neutral before 2030. Already producing 90 percent of its electricity through hydropower stations, this sounds like a realistic goal. On the other hand, many zones in Costa Rica are still underdeveloped, with chaotic ground roads and no sewage system, and many coastal resorts don’t know about green technologies and use ecology as a marketing pitch for luring tourists.

The climate in Costa Rica has two periods: The dry season, or locally called “summer”, and the rainy season, called “winter”. The rainy season starts in April, so “winter” is acually during summer. During rainy season, rain may be so strong that floods and landslides can destroy roads, cutting communication between cities.

Costa Rica was visited by 2 million people in 2010. This gave tourism the lion’s share in the economy from that year on. Flights to Costa Rica are not very convenient yet. From Europe, you have to fly via Madrid. From the American continent, you have far more options. No wonder why the biggest majority of visitors to Costa Rica are North Americans.